Vancleave

The great Ted Nugent said it best. "Everybody, at least once in their lifetime, should have to go afield and kill their own food." In order for man to live something must die. Besides, wild game is by far the best. 100% natural & low in fat. Hunting is also the purest form of freedom there is.

Your best bet for accessing Badger peak and the boundary trail is from FS #2816 or Mosquito Meadows trail. You can also access Boundary Trail from FS #2810 about 5 miles up it. Pretty dicey roads no matter how you look at it. The 28 mainline is well maintained and you access Mosquito Meadows directly from the 28 about 17 miles south from Tower Rock/Cispus Center or about 3 miles north on #28 from FS #25. Remember hunting seasons are in effect for the next few weeks and any rock climbing in the area ain't worth shit. Great views though and plenty of wildlife.

Was out scouting the elusive Wapiti elk this last Saturday and decided to check out the Pinto Rock area. I was always under the impression that everything in the South Cascades wasn't worth a shit for rock climbing, but sho nuf there was 2 stick figures scaling the steep pitches of Pinto Rock. If you are out there, post a route report. I been looking at Pinto for years, wondering. Cleave

C4F, I hope you post your climb once it's done. I think sometimes we need to keep these things in perspective. That North Ridge is a bloody mess but, as i said before, it offers a true wilderness experience and the early AM views of Rainier and the Goat Rocks are spectacular. To me, Adams has always had a magnetic pull on me, but I wasn't about to do it from the southside. Too many people. My next trip though will be a Southside ski trip. Keep an eye on the Northwest ridge that rolls a seven. Reply if you figure it out. Good luck. P.S. We did use crampons and I would bring them in case the minor crevasses on the summit have widened, but I highly doubt you will need any rope or pro.

I've been checking the southern Cascades board for weeks now, looking for any beta on players climbing Mt Adams. I guess they must all be south siders. Well, we went looking for a true wilderness experience and found it. This is my first year of mountain climbing and I am proud to say that the North Ridge of Adams is my third summit in 2001. The others were south side of Hood (on second try. First attempt was a whiteout), and Kautz Glacier on Rainier. Both my partner and I felt that of the three, that the Adams North Ridge was the best this year. Now, don't be fooled by that statement. This route is a rubble strewn mess. This time of year there is no snow or ice until you reach the summit ice cap and then it's a nice stroll across to the summit with no signifigant crevasses. Be advised though that quite frequently it is two steps up and one step back on the ridge. There is tremendous exposure on either side of the ridge and mistakes are not an option. We left from the incredibly beautiful alpine meadows at 7000' at 2:00 am Sunday and summitted at almost 9am. This route doesn't require an early start, as evidenced by the only other group to make the attempt on the ridge. We met them for the second time that weekend on our way down. Our first meeting was at the Killen Creek trailhead where they were making breakfast and one of the ladies offered us some pastries that really hit the spot. Thank you. One of the reasons why this is such an enjoyable route is the approach. The hike into the alpine meadows is spectacular and would be recommended just as a nice back country trip or day hike. There are several nice campsites in the meadows. I believe the one we had is the best in the area. Also, there are several decent bivy sites along the ridge if you want to lessen the distance to the summit. This is a very unstable ridge though and an earthquake or tremor could easily shake this flank loose into a lahar. We could not have gotten better weather on this trip, we had visuals all the way down to Mt Bachelor and beyond to the south and Mt Baker to the north. The only disappointment was we didn't get to see any mountain goats. One curiosity. What was the guy who built the lookout tower thinking? That thing probably still has ice in it from the first year it was built. Mt Adams has always had a magnetic pull on me and finally it got me. My next trip will be a south side ski trip. Anybody got suggestions on best time of year to shred? All in all a great experience.

People, people, people! Let us not forget that our experiences in the hills are supposed to be shared in a joyful manner. I was in the party with airmoss, who successfully summited via the Kautz route. I am a first time veteran of the rock and I must say it was the most fantastic experience of my 37 years. By no means should I consider myself a mountain climbing veteran, but I know one thing for certain, getting an alpine start on summit day, means the middle of the night. We began our summit ascent @ 1:00 am from 11k to ensure the stability of the cliffs and the ice chute, both on the way up and the way down and experienced no trouble whatsoever. In defense of airmoss, it is true that our experience (and maybe our only opportunity this year) was almost ruined by Drederek and his party's late arrival from the summit, when the ice cliffs were dropping truck size chunks into the garbage chute seemingly every few minutes. For about an hour while they were descending, I was virtually certain that we were going to have to rescue these boys! Let's all come to an understanding on something people, sometimes the truth hurts! Please don't be so sensitive! Climb on!